Search - Various :: Gentle Classics for an Indulgent Moment

Calm, elegant music to help you while away an afternoon or evening, come rain or shine: so put the kettle on, open a large box of chocolates, turn up the volume - and relax in the company of some of the world's greatest composers! The music of Ralph Vaughan Williams has a very special sound. A master of orchestration - the technical business of assigning tunes and harmonies to the many and varied instruments of the orchestra - Vaughan Williams studied in Paris with the great Maurice Ravel, whose music is never less than breathtaking in its skillful choice of instruments of the orchestra. To this wonderful technical skill Vaughan Williams brought a love of English folk music and a clear understanding of the music of England's past. So the 'Greensleeves' fantasia features the famous melody, composed in all probability by Henry VIII. But the fantasia begins with a contrasting theme known as 'Saint Joan', a lovely, wistful melody heard from the flute. Gentle music indeed! Edvard Grieg's experience mirrors that of Vaughan Williams: the Norwegian studied in the mid-nineteenth century with the best composers in Europe (at the Leipzig conservatoire), and sat often at the feet of Franz Liszt. But Grieg's love of the music of his native land led to his return to Norway, where he composed many pieces reflective of the landscape and folklore of that beautiful, mountainous, and, at that time, comparatively isolated country. The 'Elegaic Melodies' express a profound peace and oneness with nature. Jean Sibelius brought similar skill to his lovely tone poem, 'The Swan of Tuonela', a recreation in music of a Finnish folk tale. Alexander Borodin also used folk themes in his compositions. 'Prince Igor', a powerful opera, was one of his greatest and most successful works, with its thinly disguised nationalistic overtones. The 'Polovtsian Dances' are invigorating and powerful, while composed around one of the most beautiful melodies in the whole repertoire of classical music. The four composers mentioned so far were all famous for writing music in a specific national style. The other composers on the album were not so concerned with these issues, writing instead as part of a long-established Viennese tradition. The first was Ludwig van Beethoven, who followed closely on the heels of Haydn and Mozart, two of Austria's most illustrious musical sons. Beethoven's 'Romance in F' is primarily a gentle, melodic experience. It avoids any of the anger and aggression which can characterize Beethoven's mature style, and it forms a fitting and gentle end to this programme. Franz Schubert was famous as a composer of great melodies: more than 600 songs written in Vienna attest to his ability in this area, but all his music is imbued with long, sensuous melodies, none more so than the beautiful 'Andante con moto' from his 5th Symphony, a work written in the shadow of Beethoven, but still original, free and unique. Johannes Brahms, although born in Hamburg, in Northern Germany, found his spiritual home in Vienna. The 'Clarinet Quintet' is a late work. Its outer movements are restless and passionate in style, framing the beautiful and sensuous 'Adagio'.